Kaiser Family Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Henry J. Kaiser
Family Foundation (KFF), or just Kaiser Family Foundation, is a U.S.-based non-profit
, private operating foundation headquartered in Menlo Park, California
. It focuses on the major health care
issues facing the nation, as well as the U.S. role in global health policy. The Foundation states that it is a "non-partisan source of facts and analysis for policymakers, the media, the health care community, and the general public." The Foundation is no longer affiliated with Kaiser Permanente
or Kaiser Industries.
. The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) was originally set up in Oakland, the same city that was the headquarters for Kaiser Permanente
. Later KFF moved to its current location in Menlo Park, California about 50 miles away.
When Mr. Kaiser died in 1967, his second wife Ale Chester got half the estate; the other half went to KFF. Ale sold all equities, moved far away, and remarried. Mr. Kaiser's children got very little directly but had the authority to run the Kaiser Industries businesses and the Kaiser Family Foundation.
In 1977, ten years after Kaiser's death, his conglomerate of disparate Kaiser Industries organizations split apart. The Kaiser Family Foundation was initially a major owner of these shares: at the time of dissolution, the Foundation owned 32 percent according to Fortune Magazine.
By 1985, the foundation no longer had an ownership stake in Kaiser's old companies, and therefore is no longer associated with Kaiser Permanente
or Kaiser Industries. Family members did not retain seats on the board of Kaiser Industries, but have remained active with the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Starting in 1990, CEO Drew Altman directed "a complete overhaul of the Foundation's mission and operating style." Altman changed a "sleepy grant-making organization" (some $30 million a year interest on the $400 million endowment) into a primary news source organization. KFF has progressed from funding polls through Harvard-Washington Post "partnerships," to giving reporters in health care awards, to funding reporters with "fellowships," and to finally hiring many of them full time to run the Kaiser Health News. The launch of Kaiser Health News (KHN) in 2009 meant that KFF could through the news outlet tell people - in side to side comparison - what the two political parties were saying on health topics.
The Kaiser Family Foundation has funded professororial chairs at UC Berkeley, Stanford University, Harvard University, and Johns Hopkins University, named the Henry J. Kaiser Professorships.
, those with chronic illnesses, or Medicaid
/Medicare
recipients. For example, KFF formed the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) in 1991.
The U.S. Global Health Policy online gateway, which includes original research, news summaries and key facts and background information, is supported in part by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Kaiser is well-known for public opinion research, documenting the views and experiences of the public on health and related issues – often in partnership with major news organizations, such as The Washington Post
. Another prominent Kaiser research effort examines the role of media on the lives of young people.
Through Kaiser Health News (kaiserhealthnews.org), a non-profit news organization dedicated to in-depth coverage of health care policy and politics, the Foundation provides coverage of health policy issues and developments at the federal and state levels in the health care marketplace and health care delivery system.
Through the Foundation’s other Web sites: statehealthfacts.org, kaiserEDU.org, as well as other online tools and gateways, Kaiser is essentially a synthesizer and broker of information, providing timely and easy access to health information and facts worldwide.
In 1993, Kaiser began helping journalists keep policymakers and the public well-informed when it started their fellowship program for journalists.
, BET
, Univision
, and Fox
.
Kaiser also plays a role in the Black AIDS Media Partnership, a partnership among major U.S. media companies to address the AIDS crisis facing Black Americans.
As the Secretariat to the Global Media AIDS Initiative (GMAI), Kaiser has helped launch five broadcast media initiatives around the world in Africa, Asia, Russia, Latin America and the Caribbean. The GMAI involves more than 300 broadcasters working together to respond to the global HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Kaiser has also maintained a long-running program in South Africa
to help South Africans establish a more equitable national health system and build a successful democracy. The program currently focuses on the devastating HIV epidemic in South Africa.
The foundation is a major supporter of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
, along with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2007, the foundation began a Web site relating to the health issues in the 2008 U.S. presidential election
.
Henry J. Kaiser
Henry John Kaiser was an American industrialist who became known as the father of modern American shipbuilding. He established the Kaiser Shipyard which built Liberty ships during World War II, after which he formed Kaiser Aluminum and Kaiser Steel. Kaiser organized Kaiser Permanente health care...
Family Foundation (KFF), or just Kaiser Family Foundation, is a U.S.-based non-profit
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
, private operating foundation headquartered in Menlo Park, California
Menlo Park, California
Menlo Park, California is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; Atherton, North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City...
. It focuses on the major health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
issues facing the nation, as well as the U.S. role in global health policy. The Foundation states that it is a "non-partisan source of facts and analysis for policymakers, the media, the health care community, and the general public." The Foundation is no longer affiliated with Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is an integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield...
or Kaiser Industries.
History
The Foundation was established in 1948 by Henry J. KaiserHenry J. Kaiser
Henry John Kaiser was an American industrialist who became known as the father of modern American shipbuilding. He established the Kaiser Shipyard which built Liberty ships during World War II, after which he formed Kaiser Aluminum and Kaiser Steel. Kaiser organized Kaiser Permanente health care...
. The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) was originally set up in Oakland, the same city that was the headquarters for Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is an integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield...
. Later KFF moved to its current location in Menlo Park, California about 50 miles away.
When Mr. Kaiser died in 1967, his second wife Ale Chester got half the estate; the other half went to KFF. Ale sold all equities, moved far away, and remarried. Mr. Kaiser's children got very little directly but had the authority to run the Kaiser Industries businesses and the Kaiser Family Foundation.
In 1977, ten years after Kaiser's death, his conglomerate of disparate Kaiser Industries organizations split apart. The Kaiser Family Foundation was initially a major owner of these shares: at the time of dissolution, the Foundation owned 32 percent according to Fortune Magazine.
By 1985, the foundation no longer had an ownership stake in Kaiser's old companies, and therefore is no longer associated with Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is an integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield...
or Kaiser Industries. Family members did not retain seats on the board of Kaiser Industries, but have remained active with the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Starting in 1990, CEO Drew Altman directed "a complete overhaul of the Foundation's mission and operating style." Altman changed a "sleepy grant-making organization" (some $30 million a year interest on the $400 million endowment) into a primary news source organization. KFF has progressed from funding polls through Harvard-Washington Post "partnerships," to giving reporters in health care awards, to funding reporters with "fellowships," and to finally hiring many of them full time to run the Kaiser Health News. The launch of Kaiser Health News (KHN) in 2009 meant that KFF could through the news outlet tell people - in side to side comparison - what the two political parties were saying on health topics.
The Kaiser Family Foundation has funded professororial chairs at UC Berkeley, Stanford University, Harvard University, and Johns Hopkins University, named the Henry J. Kaiser Professorships.
Policy analysis and research
The Foundation publishes research and analysis of health-care issues, and states that much of its research especially concerns persons with low income or those who are otherwise especially vulnerable to health-care cost, such as the uninsuredUninsured in the United States
The number of persons without health insurance coverage in the United States is one of the primary concerns raised by advocates of health care reform. According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2009 there were 50.7 million people in the US who were without health insurance...
, those with chronic illnesses, or Medicaid
Medicaid
Medicaid is the United States health program for certain people and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the state and federal governments, and is managed by the states. People served by Medicaid are U.S. citizens or legal permanent...
/Medicare
Medicare (United States)
Medicare is a social insurance program administered by the United States government, providing health insurance coverage to people who are aged 65 and over; to those who are under 65 and are permanently physically disabled or who have a congenital physical disability; or to those who meet other...
recipients. For example, KFF formed the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) in 1991.
The U.S. Global Health Policy online gateway, which includes original research, news summaries and key facts and background information, is supported in part by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Kaiser is well-known for public opinion research, documenting the views and experiences of the public on health and related issues – often in partnership with major news organizations, such as The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
. Another prominent Kaiser research effort examines the role of media on the lives of young people.
Health news and information
Kaiser both provides health policy news and information and assists working journalists to improve the coverage of health in the mainstream media.Through Kaiser Health News (kaiserhealthnews.org), a non-profit news organization dedicated to in-depth coverage of health care policy and politics, the Foundation provides coverage of health policy issues and developments at the federal and state levels in the health care marketplace and health care delivery system.
Through the Foundation’s other Web sites: statehealthfacts.org, kaiserEDU.org, as well as other online tools and gateways, Kaiser is essentially a synthesizer and broker of information, providing timely and easy access to health information and facts worldwide.
In 1993, Kaiser began helping journalists keep policymakers and the public well-informed when it started their fellowship program for journalists.
Public health information campaigns
Kaiser develops and helps run public health information campaigns in the U.S. and around the world focusing on HIV/AIDS, with an emphasis on reaching young people. Through direct partnerships with major media companies, these multi-platform communications reach tens of millions of people annually. Current partners in the U.S. include MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, BET
Bet
Bet or BET may refer to:* A wager in gambling* Basic Economics Test * Bet , the second letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician and Syriac* Brunauer-Emmett-Teller isotherm. See BET_theory...
, Univision
Univision
Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...
, and Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
.
Kaiser also plays a role in the Black AIDS Media Partnership, a partnership among major U.S. media companies to address the AIDS crisis facing Black Americans.
As the Secretariat to the Global Media AIDS Initiative (GMAI), Kaiser has helped launch five broadcast media initiatives around the world in Africa, Asia, Russia, Latin America and the Caribbean. The GMAI involves more than 300 broadcasters working together to respond to the global HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Kaiser has also maintained a long-running program in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
to help South Africans establish a more equitable national health system and build a successful democracy. The program currently focuses on the devastating HIV epidemic in South Africa.
The foundation is a major supporter of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is an international financing organization that aims to "[a]ttract and disburse additional resources to prevent and treat HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria." A public–private partnership, the organization has its secretariat in Geneva,...
, along with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2007, the foundation began a Web site relating to the health issues in the 2008 U.S. presidential election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
.
External links
- Kaiser Family Foundation
- kaiserhealthnews.org
- statehealthfacts.org
- kaiserEDU.org
- healthreform.kff.org
- globalhealth.kff.org
- States Moving Towards Comprehensive Health Care Reform in the U.S.
- The Kaiser Family Foundation's Role in Today's Health Care System
- ItsYourSexLife.com (Public Education Campaign Web site with MTV)
- Rap-it-up.com (Public Education Campaign Web site with BET)
- Univision.com
- Fox.com/pause (Public Education Campaign Web site with Fox)
- GreaterthanAIDS.org (Public Education Campaign Web site with Black AIDS Media Partnership)
- PosorNot.com (Public Education Campaign Web site with MTVU)